The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Amazon's request to file seven-page written submissions after the top court has already reserved its orders on Future Retail’s plea seeking permission to proceed with National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) nod for Reliance Deal.

“You want to complicate matters, drag on hearings…You think we don't have the ability to understand the oral submissions?” Chief Justice of India NV Ramana told Amazon. CJI said it is best not to list these matters as it appears to be luxurious litigations.

Amazon and Future Group have been engaged in a legal battle for more than a year now. Future has decided to sell its Big Bazaar retail business to Reliance Retail, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries (RIL). Amazon, however, is trying to block the sale of Future’s retail, wholesale, and logistics business to RIL Ltd for Rs 24,713 crore for allegedly violating contracts.

The e-commerce giant argues that its 2019 deal with a Future unit contained clauses prohibiting the group from selling its retail assets to anyone on a "restricted persons" list that included Reliance.

Earlier in January, the Future Group had sought the Supreme Court's approval to proceed with its deal with Reliance Retail. Future Group submitted that the apex court has already reserved passing final orders--protecting Amazon's interests by doing so--and that it should be allowed to secure shareholder approval.

Future Group stated that approval was necessary from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for this deal to move forward. It further submitted that the process to finalise the deal was a lengthy one and could take months to reach the final stages.

The Kishore Biyani-led group cited immense pressure on Future Retail Limited (FRL) from lenders who have threatened bankruptcy proceedings.

Meanwhile, the top court last week refused to pass any interim orders restraining banks from classifying Future Retail as a non-performing asset. The banks have suggested an open bid between Amazon and Reliance to settle the dispute and ensure recovery for banks.

In another update, the issue of enforcement of the Singapore arbitral award will be heard by Delhi High Court on February 11. The Supreme Court had remanded the matter back to Delhi HC.

The high court said a ground plan to hear these matters would have to be fixed, and asked both Future and Amazon to furnish a short note not exceeding four pages explaining the controversy and the interconnections therewith, 24 hours before the next hearing and the priority with which the matter should be taken up.

Also, earlier this month, the Supreme Court set aside three Delhi High Court orders including the refusal to grant a stay on the final arbitral award which had restrained FRL from going ahead with its Rs 24,731 crore merger deal with Reliance Retail and ordered fresh adjudication. The apex court also set aside the high court's order of February 2 last year, by which it had directed FRL to maintain the status quo in relation to the merger deal.

(Edited by : Kanishka Sarkar)

First Published:Feb 8, 2022 12:45 PM IST